Quarterback Tom Brady is not the only challenge for the Colts defense. New England averages 129.1 rushing yards per game and has three tough running backs. / Getty Images

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Coby Fleener took some journalism classes at Stanford, so he thinks he has figured out the storyline for Saturday night’s divisional game between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass.

If the Colts win, he said, it will be that they rode the massive wave of emotion from the Kansas City game.

If the Colts lose, he said, the storyline will read that the team maxed out itself last Saturday and had nothing left for the game against New England.

He might be on to a little something: Three times, the Colts have come back from double-digit deficits. The week after those comebacks, they’ve lost all three times and been outscored 97-28.

So will we see a team that’s still cresting after the Kansas City comeback, or will we see a team that figures it has taken this as far as it can go, a team that’s wiped out after leaving its guts on the field last week at Lucas Oil Stadium?

My hunch is it’s going to be the former.

Here are a couple of things the Colts need to do to beat the Patriots tonight in Foxborough.

• Limit New England’s two- and even three-pronged running game.

The Patriots are ninth in the league in rushing, averaging 129.1 yards a game. They do it with three guys who share the load — Stevan Ridley (773 yards), LeGarrette Blount (772 yards) and Shane Vereen (208 yards rushing, 427 yards receiving). If Tom Brady spends the day in third-and-3, it’s going to be a long, rain-swept day in the Colts’ personal House of Horrors.

• Get a huge game out of cornerback Darius Butler, who will be covering the Patriots slot receiver, whether that’s Julian Edelman or Danny Amendola. Throughout Brady’s time in New England, he has always made his money by throwing to his slot receivers in the middle of the field (see: Wes Welker).

“He’ll play a major role, especially on third down,” coach Chuck Pagano said of Butler. “…They do a great job of designing plays to get those guys open. They’re always on the move. They’re not just sitting there stationary. They do a great job of stacking receivers in two-man stacks, getting in bunches, all sorts of things to get those guys loose to where you can’t get your hands on them.’’

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• Break even on special teams.

A year ago, Edelman returned a punt for a touchdown. Can’t happen this time around.

• Establish something on the ground offens­ively.

We’re not talking about 100-plus yards; the Colts rarely, if ever, reach that milestone, especially as they’ve recently gone with more wide-open passing sets and thrown the ball around. But the Patriots are 30th in the league in rush defense (134.1 yards per game), largely because they lost defensive lineman Vince Wilfork, the human road block, to a season-ending injury.

The Colts need something/anything from Donald Brown and yes, Trent Richardson, who’s in a position to atone for last week’s blunder.

• No turnovers. None. Be the team that led the NFL in fewest turnovers (14) and not the slip-shod unit that gave the ball away four times last week.

“The margin for error keeps shrinking, obviously; it’s minute,” Pagano said. “Again, you can’t beat yourself. We know coach (Bill) Beli­chick and his staff and his team, they don’t beat themselves. They don’t make mistakes. We talk all the time, you don’t win games in the National Football League, you lose games.’’

• Get pressure on Brady.

Move him off his spot. Change his release point. Make him uncomfortable. Just like the Colts did against Peyton Manning earlier in the season. If Brady has time to pat the ball and survey the field, it’s curtains.

“You’ve got to do a great job of mixing it up,” Pagano said. “It can’t be something that you do all the time. Our guys have to do a great job of disguising. There’s nothing that Tom hasn’t seen, as you know. Got great recall. They do a great job with their system, the way they run their offense, trying to get you to show your hand. We’ve got to do a great job pre-snap and post-snap, whether we’re playing coverage or going after them.”

• Run, Andrew, run.

When Luck uses his legs, the Colts win. The past two regular seasons, when Luck ran for 20 yards or more, the Colts were 13-4. There’s no easy defense for schoolyard football.

A year ago against the Pats, Luck ran just once for 4 yards.

So beyond that, it should be a piece of cake, right?

It’s like this: The Colts have beaten all the best teams in the league, are 5-2 against playoff teams. They can be Jekyll and Hyde, capable of excellence, capable of looking horrendous. My belief is they will play well and stay with New England until the fourth quarter, but lose in heartbreaking fashion at the very end.